Man with TB quarantined

Tom Corwin @aug_scimed

Wednesday

May 30, 2007 at 6:00 AM

A Fulton County man with a rare drug-resistant form of tuberculosis triggered a seldom-used federal quarantine order and sparked an international health investigation after he boarded a flight to Paris from Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

People on his flights who might have been in rows near him will be advised to seek testing, though the risk of infection is low, said CDC Director Julie Gerberding.

The man knew he had TB and was advised not to travel but felt he had "compelling personal reasons" to board Air France Flight 385 on May 12 to Paris, Dr. Gerberding said. However, the man might not have been aware that he had an "extremely" drug-resistant form of the bacteria, she said.

The CDC learned that travel was a possibility only after the man had left, she said.

"Under the circumstances, I think we were surprised that the patient had left the country," she said.

The man flew back May 24 on Czech Airlines Flight 0104 from Prague to Montreal and then drove into the United States, Dr. Gerberding said. The CDC issued the federal order of isolation, the first time the agency has used it since 1963, Dr. Gerberding said.

The man was contacted in New York City and drove himself to a quarantine hospital and was later flown on a CDC plane back to Atlanta, where he is isolated, said Dr. Martin Cetron, the director of the CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine.

The CDC is working with local and international health authorities and the airlines to notify passengers on those flights, particularly those who were sitting next to him or within two rows of him, Dr. Gerberding said. She would not say where the patient sat or list the rows at greater risk.

While the risk of transmission is low, "we know it isn't zero," Dr. Gerberding said. The action by state, federal and international health authorities was taken because the disease is "so potentially serious," she said.

The CDC has been tracking these extensively drug-resistant cases of TB since 1993 and has documented 49 in the United States, said Dr. Kenneth Castro, the director of the CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination.